TIME FOR WHITE TO CRACK DOWN ON THE USE OF PEDS

In the Ultimate Fighting Championship, slaps on the wrist prevail. Meanwhile, not being sufficiently entertaining can put you out of a job. Even if you’ve abided by all the rules.

Say what you will about MLB’s approach to its performance-enhancing drug problem, but at least Commissioner Bud Selig has prescribed specific penalties — 50 games for the first offense, 100 games for the second, a lifetime ban for the third.

In governing his own domain, Dana White follows a less linear path. Maybe the UFC president is simply content to tackle each mini-crisis as it arises. Never mind that the mini-crises are coagulating into a mega-mess.

In late July, the famously irreverent White stared down the Biogenesis scandal that had engulfed baseball and fingered various other sports, including mixed martial arts.

“Obviously, it’s an athletic commission issue, but it’s just one of those things,” White said then. “It’s just another (expletive) headache I don’t need.”

The busy man has a point. As of yet, no MMA athlete has been named in connection with Biogenesis, a vague phantom in comparison with the real headaches.

Last Thursday, the UFC suspended heavyweight Ben Rothwell for nine months due to an elevated testosterone level following an Aug. 31 win over Chula Vista’s Brandon Vera.

Rothwell defeated Vera via TKO at UFC 164 in Milwaukee. He had been granted a therapeutic use exemption for testosterone by the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services, but tested above the acceptable limit after the fight.

“While the WDSPS has elected not to impose any discipline on Rothwell, to date, the UFC holds its athletes to a high standard of personal and professional conduct and finds that Rothwell’s actions merit the suspension,” an official UFC statement read.

The gravity of that statement should not be overestimated.

After all, this is the same UFC that welcomed back convicted dopers such as Josh Barnett, Chael Sonnen and Alistair Overeem.

In some cases, these prodigal sons’ exiles have lasted years. In 2002, Barnett was stripped of his heavyweight title after testing positive for banned substances. In May, more than a decade later, he returned to the UFC — this despite pointed comments in 2010 by White, who said, “Josh Barnett tested positive three times. ... This isn’t the kind of guy that I respect or want to do business with.”

For Overeem, who failed a pre-fight drug test last May, the penalty was a Rothwell-like nine months. After backing Overeem as he pleaded his case to the Nevada State Athletic Commission, the UFC pulled the popular heavyweight off the card for business reasons.

Those reasons might explain why the UFC last month released then-No. 6-ranked middleweight Yushin Okami. While established as a viable contender, Okami apparently wasn’t exciting enough.

Meantime, the UFC’s drug policy lacks substantial punch. Shamed fighters have returned in blazes of pay-per-view glory. White appears to take a “do not get caught” approach to PEDs, deferring to athletic commissions on testing and punishment.

For all the sport’s chest-pounding bravado, that’s child’s play compared to what a 79-year-old has undertaken. As the UFC continues its game of Whac-A-Mole, Selig has tackled his own sport’s problem. White, a hipper figure at 44, could stand to take a few notes.